


Pet Dinosaur

by spasticArtist



Category: OFF (Game)
Genre: Bad!Batter being adorable, Double Player all the way across the sky, Female Player, MAJOR COYOTE DEATH, Male Player, Multi, My First AO3 Post, My First Work in This Fandom, Named Players, POV First Person, Player's Mama makes an appearance, doing dinosaur things, emetophobia warning, slight Hobo!Zacharie, these tags are ridiculous
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-15
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-12 11:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1185911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spasticArtist/pseuds/spasticArtist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[This was pretty much written on a whim, and based on a daydream, so please don't judge too harshly. Although I have complete faith in my fandom. Nice/constructive comments don't hurt either. >:3]</p><p>The Batter and Zacharie somehow manage to find themselves in the real world, but are separated before arrival. In addition to that, Batter is stuck in his Bad form, and can't seem to change back. Now they both seek out the Player [known to them as Chibi] and her friend Jonathon [who is also a Player] in the hopes of finding some solution to their problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Holes in Fences and Data

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: THE JONATHON MENTIONED IN THIS FIC IS NOT ACTUALLY JONTRON. It is simply a funny nickname used by the main character for their roommate. All characters belong to their rightful owners.
> 
> [EDIT: 1,000+ Hits!? You guys actually like this? Please let me know if you want me to write more! I've been neglecting this fic for DDatE, which is probably only gonna be two chapters instead of three, but still. Thanks so much for reading!]
> 
> [ANOTHER EDIT: Yo, I'm working on this rarely now, so if you like it I am sorry if I keep you waiting for a long time!]

It was a part of my everyday routine. I took the trash out at night, as it was just easier that way, and I didn’t want to go outside during the daytime because of the summer heat. I hated summer. All the bugs, the hotness, and humidity were just too much for me. As I walked up to the trash cans, I looked over to the park across the street and squinted my eyes. There was a reflection coming off of the slide that lined up perfectly with one of the street lamps and made it look as if Slenderman was standing there in the park stalking children that were no longer there. I laughed to myself quietly, but that was cut short by a rustling in the bushes near the park. I hid myself behind the trash cans and peered out from around the edges. There was a huge silhouetted figure creeping out from the bushes. It looked humanoid, but at the same time, it appeared to be monstrous. It attempted to get to the outer part of the housing complex through the fence gate behind the park. I let out an amused chuff, knowing that the gate was locked to keep children out of the ravine and to keep intruders out of the housing area. However, the shadow ripped a hole through the shabby chain link fence and leapt through in one swift motion. I silently gasped, not knowing anyone or anything that could possibly do such a thing. I was curious as to what had gotten into our quiet little neighborhood, so I decided to follow the shaded figure through the fence.

 

However, as soon as I clambered through the hole the figure made, it was gone. I looked around for it, even resorting to go partially down the ravine. I heard more rustles, and looked toward the source. However, it wasn’t what I was expecting. Instead of the identity of the mysterious shadow, I was met with the dripping maws of no less than five coyotes; all thin, hungry, and drooling as if they had found their next meal. I took a defensive stance, holding my arms up in front of me, ready to punch if one of them leapt at me. I wasn’t as prepared as I previously thought, as they all jumped at once. I knew I wasn’t getting out of this one. I closed my eyes and waited for the fangs and claws to rend through my flesh. However, the impact never came. Instead, a rather impressive and threatening roar filled my ears and the sound of whimpers, breaking bones, and tearing flesh followed. I was too afraid to open my eyes. I regretted following the silhouette, now knowing that it wasn’t friendly. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I felt a nudge against my back, along with an almost pathetic sounding whine that didn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before. I opened my eyes, peering around my fingers cautiously. I saw a pile of dead coyotes and blood spattered all around me. I did not see what had made this mess, until I turned around slowly.

 

            It was him. The one from that game I had been playing lately. Although he wasn’t his “normal” self.  There sitting before me was a huge, dinosaur-looking humanoid, with large clawed hands, in a baseball uniform complete with a little hat. His rather round eyes glowed softly in the dark, much like the moon in the sky. I let out a quiet gasp, holding my hand to my mouth. This couldn’t be real. There was no possible way this was happening right now. I tried pinching my arm, and sure enough, it hurt like hell. Either this was the most realistic dream I’ve ever had, or I wasn’t dreaming, and the impossible was happening right before my eyes. It took another reptilian whine to make me notice I had been staring off into space for a solid five minutes. I slowly reached a hand out to the form sitting in front of me. Noticing my hesitation, the creature leaned forward enough for my hand to touch his snout. Upon contact, I had seen a flash of events running in my mind like a slideshow. It was the things that happened in the game, except from his viewpoint. I let out another soft gasp. It was even more emotionally rending this way. Most other players thought that he was the bad guy after playing through, and hated him because of this. But now I had seen the truth, and realized how wrong they all were.

            “Chibi.”

I heard a voice, but there was no one around aside from the dinosaur in the sportive pajamas. I listened more intently this time, hearing the voice again.

            “Chibi, it’s me.”

            I looked over to said dinosaur and muttered, “Batter…I know it’s you. How are you talking?” he blinked at me and stated, his jaws unmoving,

            “I do not need to speak in order to communicate with you.” He stood up, walking over to the coyote bodies before tossing them into some nearby brush. “You are my player, therefore we can communicate in other ways than just speaking.” He then came back to me and sat down again.

            “I see…But I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” I asked him, dusting off his clothes. “And why are you like that? How did you get around looking like that!?” I whispered, my voice high in pitch. I started to panic slightly. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to the Batter; especially since I didn’t know what would happen if something bad did happen to him in this world.

            “Calm down Chibi. I came to you for help.” He replied, gently nudging me, urging me to get back up the ravine before more coyotes came. I groaned slightly, ruffling my hair with frustration.

            “What makes you think I can help you, Batter? I don’t even know how you got here! Or why you’re in that form! I don’t know what to do…” I hiked up the hill and headed back through the hole in the fence. “How are we gonna fix that?” I complained, tugging at my hair slightly. He said nothing, and simply followed me back through the hole. I sighed and placed a hand to my forehead. “Well, I don’t know where you’re going to stay, because I know for damn sure if anyone saw you, they would freak out. And not in a good way.” He sat there and stared at me, blinking once. I let out an annoyed groan as I walked back home, the Batter following close behind. “I suppose I can keep you in the garage, since no one usually goes in there aside from me.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose before I walked inside to open the garage. “Batter, stay here for a moment, okay?” I muttered, so that no one could hear me.

            “You don’t need to speak aloud for me to hear you.” He said, looking toward the closed garage door. I laughed softly, heading inside to open the garage door.

 

            ‘So what, we have like telepathy or something? Yeah right. Batter must have hit his head coming here somehow.’ I thought to myself, rolling my eyes and letting out a snicker as I pressed the button on the garage opener.

            “I assure you I did no such thing.” He remarked in a rather snarky variation of his normally stoic tone. I let out a loud gasp, shocked that he actually COULD hear me. My mom asked from the other room if everything was alright, and I replied with a short yes as I headed back outside. Once I was back outside, I gestured for the Batter to follow me into the garage. I began to take some of the boxes in the corner and construct a box fort for him to sleep in. I laid down a quilt and some old pillows that nobody used anymore and piled them into a makeshift bed.

            “Go on. Get some rest. I’d let you sleep in the house, but I can’t promise that everyone would react as well as I did.” I rolled my eyes and shrugged. He looked at me for a bit before letting out a huff and curling up on the blankets. “Well, are you comfy? I’m sorry there’s not more padding. Not a whole lot to work with out here.” I scratched the back of my head nervously.

            “It’s fine.” He replied, still staring at me from inside the box fort. “At least it isn’t metal rocks.” He closed his eyes and let out a snort.

            “Okay…Well, I will be back in the morning to check on you. If you need anything, there’s drinks and stuff in the fridge here.” I said, wanting to be sure he was comfortable. “Goodnight Batter.” I muttered as I closed the garage door. “Yo mom, I’m heading to bed!” I shouted as I headed off to my room, a big yawn escaping my lips.

            “Really? You usually stay up until four in the morning doing your….Tumblr…shit.” she replied, her tone suspicious.

            “Yeah, I know. Tumblr is dull right now, so I’m going to bed.” I came back, gave my mom a kiss on the cheek and turned back to the hallway. “Goodnight mom! I love you!” I went back to my room where my bro/roommate was already asleep on the top bunk. My mom raised an eyebrow, but she shrugged and decided it was high time she went to sleep as well.

 


	2. Lion Tamers and Hot Mamas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't even ask about the chapter titles. They're really...random. XD  
> Please let me know in the comments if you'd like me to continue to post this here, because I have more, but not enough to post a third chapter yet. =w=;

Morning came with the sound of birds chirping cheerfully, sprinklers spraying, and the garage door opening!? I jolted awake and hit my head on the planks of the top bunk. “AGH, DAMMIT!” I shouted as I held my head and rolled out of bed. I noticed my roomie was no longer asleep in his bunk, which was strange considering I was ALWAYS awake before him. I went to ask my mom where he was, but noticed she was still sleeping, and decided it was better to leave her that way. I rushed outside to see who had opened the garage, but stopped in the doorway, seeing Jonathon standing there in sheer terror, holding a rake above his head, and a stool between himself and a very pissed off Batter. “Jon, stop! He won’t hurt you!” I practically leapt over boxes and other obstacles to get between the two of them.

            “What the hell is HE doing here!? How did he get here, and why does he look like THAT!?” Jon panicked, waving the rake around and pointing it at the Batter. I grabbed ahold of the rake and used my other hand to gently pat Batter’s monstrous snout, making soft shooshing noises to try and calm him down.

            “Jon, will you calm the fuck down for a minute? I don’t know anything more than you do, and neither does he. He only came here to get help.” I sighed with frustration. “Now you know why I didn’t let you in the house.”

            “I see…” Batter stated, sitting down in his box fort, but still glaring at Jon.

            “Okay, but how did he get HERE? As in our house. I know he wasn’t here last night. Unless you went out when I was sleeping.” Jon let out a nervous sigh as he dropped the stool and rake. “You know you get into a lot of trouble, Chibi…” he rested a hand on my shoulder.

            “I know, but I saw him when I was taking out the trash, and decided to follow him…But I didn’t actually know it was him. I just knew there was a huge shadow tearing holes in fences.” I laughed as I sat down beside the Batter in his box fort.

            “But what if he attacked you like in the game?” Jon said, a concerned tone in his voice. “Chibi, you really need to think things through before you act…”

            “I knew he wouldn’t. Especially since he could have just let the coyotes do his dirty work for him.” I muttered, crossing my arms in a mock pout.

            “Coyotes!? Jesus Christ Chibi, you could have gotten killed!” Jon shouted, waving his hands around.

            “Jon, hush! You’ll wake up my mom! I don’t think she’d react well to me bringing home a sentient dinosaur wearing baseball clothes. Do you?” I put a finger to my lips to tell him to shut up.

            “No…” Jon mumbled. “Well, what are you going to do with him? You can’t keep him in the garage, it’s way too hot in here.” He had a good point. I really couldn’t keep Batter locked up in the garage for too long. I felt bad keeping him there as it was.

            “I have a plan…” I started, but was quickly cut off by Jon’s sass.

            “Every time you say ‘I have a plan’ bad things happen.” He said, putting his hands on his hips and heaving a sigh. I let out a huff before continuing.

            “ANYWAYS! I have a plan. My mom should still be sleeping. If she is, then we sneak Mr. Batter here to our room. If not, then we wait until she falls asleep tonight and move him then.” I finished, crossing my arms triumphantly.

            “This should go rather smoothly…” Jon muttered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

            “JonTron, you hush.” I scowled a little before getting up. “Batter, you stay here for a bit while I go check on my mom.” I whispered, patting his snout gently. He simply grumbled and curled back up. I hurried back into the house quietly, making sure to duck behind the couch so my mom couldn’t see me if she was awake. I peered over the back of the couch and noticed my mom was smoking a cigarette. “Shit!” I cursed quietly. I slowly slunk back into the garage with my arms crossed. Jon started laughing.

            “Lemme guess, she was awake?” he managed to say between laughing fits. I glared at him and threatened to smack him with a shoe if he didn’t quit. “Okay, but we can’t make him wait in here all day. It’s already starting to get hot.” he pointed out rather obviously.

            “I know, I know!” I whined, ruffling my hair so much I almost knocked my glasses off of my face. I paced around for a little bit until I stomped my foot down and thrust my hand into the air like a spear. “I got it! Jon, you can distract my mom by talking about….L.A. Noire or something, and I can sneak Batter to our room while she’s distracted!” I almost started dancing, but I didn’t want to trip on any loose articles that were on the ground. “I can sneak him behind the couch, but in order to get to our room, I need to pass through the part of the hallway that isn’t covered by it. That’s where you come in.” I grinned at Jon, who was already covering his face with his hand and sighing.

            “If you think it’ll work, then by all means, let’s try it out.” he replied, his voice yet again carrying that same sarcasm. I was seconds away from picking up a sandal and beating him with it. I’m pretty sure Batter could read my intentions, because he nodded at me subtly enough so that Jon couldn’t see. I sighed and told them to follow me inside, and told Jon to get in position. We waited in the kitchen as Jon walked up to my mom and started to talk to her. “So, how are you this morning? Got any plans for today?” he started, standing in front of her so that he could block as much of the hallway from her view as possible.

            “I’m alright. I was thinking we could play some L.A. Noire later if you’re up for it.” She replied, tapping the end of her cigarette into her ash tray. I started toward the hallway crawling on my hands and knees so I couldn’t be seen behind the couch. Upon reaching the start of the gap, I motioned for Batter to join me. I peered around the corner and noticed that she just so happened to be sitting facing the gap, but Jon was doing a great job distracting her. I grinned and began to cross the gap.

            “Sounds good! If you want, we could play right now even!” Jon motioned to the TV, noticing that we were halfway across the gap at that point. My mom arched an eyebrow at him, seeing that he was getting agitated about something, yet she turned toward the TV anyways. We were still in her peripherals, and still at risk of getting caught, so Jon kept talking until we were almost completely into the other hallway. That’s when our plan went off track.

            “Jonathon, have you gotten all your schoolwork done?” my mom asked, turning back to my now sweat covered roomie with a frown on her face.

            “N-No ma’am…I haven’t….” he stuttered out, not looking my mom in the eyes.

            “Then I can’t turn on the game until you finish your….” She paused, and I turned slowly, already knowing that she had spotted us. As soon as we made eye contact, I froze completely, letting out a nervous chuckle. “Chibi…WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?” she yelled, pointing at the uniform clad dinosaur who was standing at my side, tilting his head slightly.

            “Mom, don’t freak out-“

            “DON’T FREAK OUT!? THAT’S A FUCKING DINOSAUR IN BASEBALL CLOTHES! WHAT THE FUCK!” she continued yelling, cutting me off completely. Jon stood there in the center of the room, continuing to sweat. “You were in on this Jonathon? Why the hell would you let Chibi bring a FUCKING DINOSAUR INTO THE HOUSE!?”

            “It’s not my fault! She convinced me that he saved her from some coyotes-“ he started, but was also cut off by my mom’s worried yelling.

            “COYOTES!? WHY WERE THERE COYOTES!?”

            “MOM. STOP FREAKING OUT.” I said, my voice raised slightly. She stopped panicking long enough to see that her yelling had agitated the hulking reptile to the point that he was on all fours, hissing at her. “It’s okay. He’s a friend. Well, I suppose you could call him that. He saved me from the coyotes. Some hooligans cut a hole in the fence, so they were able to get into the housing complex.” I said, patting the Batter’s snout to calm him down. He sat back with a grumble, not yet sure if my mom was a threat or not. ‘That’s my mom you were hissing at, you ass.’ I thought, making sure that he understood that she wasn’t going to hurt me. He simply looked at me, then back to her before snorting and turning up his snout as he walked down the hallway, out of sight.

            “Okay, but what is it doing in the house? I don’t remember saying you could have a pet dinosaur.” She said, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

            “Mom. That dinosaur saved my life. And he’s a boy, not an it.” I corrected her.

            “How do you know? Did you check if it had a-“

            “Mom that’s gross.” I sighed. “Anyways, I thought it was fitting that he stayed here.”

            “Wait, if you found him with those goofy clothes on, then doesn’t that mean he’s already someone else’s pet?” she stated, her arms still crossed. I opened my mouth to answer her question, but no words came to mind.

            “Well, you see…He didn’t have any kind of information on him…So I assumed he was abandoned.” I shrugged my shoulders and sighed. “Besides, you know how much I love dinosaurs, so this is literally a dream come true for me. Please let me keep him!” I pleaded, practically throwing myself to my knees dramatically. She stared at me for a while longer before sighing.

            “You’re gonna take care of him right? I doubt that there are any vets who know how to make him better if he gets sick.” She chided, waving her hand at me to tell me to stand back up.

            “Of course I’ll take care of him!” I whined, making a pouty face.

            “So what is his name anyways? ‘Homerun’?” my mom laughed a little with a mocking tone.

            “Actually, his name is Batter. I figured it was fitting, seeing as he’s got a baseball uniform on.” I almost laughed at my mom’s joke, but then realized his real name wasn’t much better. Jon turned to me and shrugged before he walked over to his computer and started to get to work. I shrugged back and turned back to my mom. “So I can keep him?”

            “Of course. I think he’s cool. Just make sure you clean up after him and keep him bathed. Also, only walk him at night. We don’t want people seeing that you have a dinosaur as a pet. Who knows what would happen then?” she waved me off and I squeaked a happy thank you before scampering off to my room to see what Batter was up to. Upon entering my room, I noticed that the hulking reptilian in question was sniffing about curiously, growling slightly as he sniffed at the top bunk where Jon usually slept. He continued his somewhat strange smelling of the room, moving on to the bottom bunk where I slept, stopping for a moment at my pillow before shoving the upper half of his body under the bed. I giggled to myself quietly, amused at the fact that he could even fit under there in the first place. I suppose he heard me though, as he started flailing about in an attempt to get out from under the bed, only to discover he had gotten himself stuck. I had to refrain from laughing out loud, simply because I didn’t want to get beat up.

            “Are you alright under there?” I asked, almost sputtering from the held in laughter. He stopped flailing long enough to respond to my query, letting out a huge huff before doing so.

            “I need help.” He replied, sounding rather irritated. But whether it was because he was stuck under the bed, or because I had laughed at him for being in such a state in the first place, I had no clue. I couldn’t help but let out another giggle as I lifted the bunk bed enough for him to squirm out from underneath it. He turned toward me with a glare, and let out an annoyed huff before he sat down in the center of the room.

            “Hey…Sorry I laughed.” I said quietly as I patted his head gently. “I just couldn’t resist though. You’re lucky Jon wasn’t the one who found you like that. He would have taken pictures to use as some kind of blackmail or something. Heheh.” I sat down next to him on the floor, which had several different things scattered about. Art supplies, manga books, video games, plush toys, and various other bits and bobs. I picked up a nearby sketchbook and flipped idly through the pages. I stopped at a picture I sketched of the Batter in his human form, and Zacharie, the masked merchant who happened to be from the very same game. It then occurred to me that maybe the Batter wasn’t the only one who happened to escape the game somehow. Considering Zacharie’s vast knowledge of the game itself, and not to mention the fact that he broke the fourth wall quite often, he may have been the one who caused this whole mess in the first place. “Batter, did you happen to be talking with Zacharie before this incident happened?” I asked him, placing the sketchbook on the floor with the pencil inside it.

            “Yes I did, but I’m not quite sure why that would be important.” He replied, rubbing the back of his neck where the bed had been pinning him. He looked over at the drawing I had done and tilted his head slightly. I hadn’t posted this drawing anywhere online, so technically he was the first one to see it. I was trying to gauge his reaction, but from the looks of it, he didn’t really think much of it. “This drawing is really nice…It must have taken quite a long time for you to do, judging from the quality of the work.” I blushed a little, not really knowing what to say. I was never really good at taking compliments about my art, or even myself for that matter.

            “Thank you…But it really only took me about…fifteen minutes?” I murmured, placing a finger to my chin as I thought about how long the sketch took me to make. “Anyways, that’s not important right now.” I waved my hands about and shook off the blush, donning a more serious expression. “I asked about Zacharie because I think he may have something to do with the fact that you’re no longer in your game. As a matter of fact, I think he may be here somewhere as well.” I heard a quiet growl arise from the Batter upon me mentioning the fact that Zacharie may have joined him in his ‘escape’ from their game. I raised an eyebrow toward him, but he looked away rather quickly, trying to avoid eye contact at all costs.

            “That may be a possibility.” He grumbled, still turned away from me. I was curious as to why he was suddenly put in such a bad mood, but I figured I should just leave it alone for right now and not push him too much. “But if he is here, then we must find him. He may know the way home.” He added, turning to me slowly while still avoiding eye contact. I nodded toward him as I went to sit down on my bed to think this theory through some more.

            “If he really is here, don’t you think he’d be somewhere nearby, since you most likely left the game at the same time? Do you remember anything from before you got here?” I questioned, attempting to build on my thoughts even more. All I got from the Batter was a shrug and an exhausted sounding sigh. I let out a sigh of my own, before flopping back onto my bed. I felt like taking a nap, but it was in the middle of the afternoon by now, and taking a nap would be stupid. I decided to ask my mom if it was alright to walk to the store and buy myself some apple juice and some snacks. I wanted to take someone with me, but since it was noon, I couldn’t take Batter, so I asked Jonathon if he was in a good place to take a break with his work. Luckily enough, he was, so we slipped on our shoes and headed to the mini mart a few blocks away.


	3. Mini Marts and Hobo Tents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to upload! I hope that the next update will be quicker. Thanks for sticking with me guys!  
> Also, I apologize for the short chapter. =7=;

            As we walked to the mini mart, we passed by a tent just outside our housing complex. We thought nothing of it of course, since there were several homeless people in the area who happened to do things like that, so we simply walked by it. When we got to the store, we were greeted by the friendly cashier at the front counter like usual.

            “So JonTron, what do you wanna get for snacks?” I asked him rather enthusiastically as I browsed the shelves with a small basket in hand. I plucked some apple juice from the fridge section and several bags of chips and other goodies before he had even had the chance to answer me.

            “Well, it looks like you already have it covered there, Chibi. Did you ask Mr. Scalybutt if he wanted anything?” he replied in his usual quippy manner. I hadn’t really thought to ask the Batter if he wanted anything from the store, since he has a rather…unique diet. I was pretty sure that he could eat whatever the heck he wanted, but I’d rather let him decide what he wants to eat so I didn’t end up making him sick or something.

            “Jon, we have to find Zacharie…I don’t think Batter has eaten anything since he’s been here, and I’m a little worried…” I whispered, pulling Jon down to my level so I didn’t have to raise my voice at all. I could have sworn I saw Jon flush a little, but it could have just been the glare from the red basket I was holding. He nodded his head and took the basket up to the counter with my wallet and paid for the snacks. Afterwards, we headed home. As we entered the housing complex again, that same tent was there, but it was open slightly toward the top. A small amount of smoke rose out of the opening, and there was a rather strange scent with it. I panicked a little, thinking that some poor hobo was on fire or something, so Jon opened the tent up the rest of the way.

            “Hey, is everything okay in….here?” he yelled at first, but his voice trailed off slightly after he had seen the inside of the tent. I slowly wandered over, almost expecting to find a dead body or something equally scarring, but instead, seated inside of the tent in front of a small kettle that was probably brewing some kind of tea, was a man who appeared to be only slightly taller than myself, wearing a cream colored sweater with a red heart on the front, and some black jeans. He had a mask on that sort of resembled a frog, or maybe a toad? I almost started yelling, because I’m pretty sure I saw this tent here a few days ago, but I was relieved we didn’t have to look far to find him.

            “Buenos dias, my dear players. I was beginning to wonder when you would grace me with your presence.” He said, his voice full of amusement, almost as if he was mocking us for taking so long to find him. There were several cans of food scattered about his tent, but they were unopened. He must have seen me staring at them, because he simply stated “I had no can opener.” and continued about his business.

            “Zacharie, I swear to god, don’t do any of your cryptic…shit. I need your help, and so does-“ before I could finish my sentence, I was cut off by the masked merchant, much to my irritation.

            “The Batter. Yes, I am aware of your current situation. I am the one who happened to traverse the plane that you and most of the world refer to as ‘the fourth wall’ and brought the two of us here. Now, you may be wondering why I did such a thing in the first place. The answer is very simple.” He paused momentarily before continuing. “There really isn’t a reason I can give to you. I wanted to try it and see if it worked, and it did.” He laughed in very much the same manner as in the game, but it sounded so different in reality. It sounded really rich and smooth, almost like how some kind of premium coffee tastes or something. I happened to glance over to Jon, who was just standing there, his mouth slightly open, and his eyes wide like he had seen a superstar. I sighed and patted him on the back, knowing exactly how he felt in that moment.

            “Well, do you know how to get back yet?” I asked him, the slightly panicked tone in my voice was a dead giveaway to exactly how worried I was for them. Zacharie, I wasn’t so worried about, since he was a human, but I was really concerned about the Batter, seeing as I really didn’t know how to care for him outside of the game.

            “Worry not amigos. While I am figuring this out, I can help you keep your scaly friend safe.” He reassured me, getting up and beginning to pack up his things. I almost started crying due to the fact that Zacharie actually didn’t mind helping me out with the Batter, considering all the things we had done in the game. I figured that he didn’t mind, BECAUSE of the fact that it was a game. Although I did wonder sometimes what happened after I had saved and gone to bed…I couldn’t think about that now though, because now we had to find somewhere to keep Zacharie. If he were to keep camping outside like this, the police would surely get on his case and ask him to leave, or even worse. As I was contemplating the situation, I hadn’t noticed that Jonathon and Zacharie were already busy with their own plan. They had already broken down the tent and had a little under half of it packed up.

            “Guys, what are you doing?” I asked, almost certain of what the answer was going to be already.

            “What does it look like we’re doing?” Jonathon replied, rolling his eyes as he continued to help Zacharie pack his things.

            “I know what you’re doing, but there’s no use packing until we find somewhere for Zacharie to-“

            “He’s staying with us at our house.” He interrupted, his voice completely flat. “If you can have your weird…velociraptor boyfriend as a pet, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong with Zacharie staying in the guest room.” He huffed, his hands on his hips.

            “He’s not my boyfriend.” I groaned, putting my hand against my forehead in annoyance. “Anyways, I think my mom’s already suspicious of the fact that a dinosaur suddenly appeared, and I honestly didn’t think she’d let him stay. I thought she would have cut his head off or something, really.” I tapped my shoe idly as Jonathon finished helping Zacharie pack up his tent and stuff.

            “I think she’d be fine, considering Zacharie is oh, I dunno….A human being?” He sassed, grabbing the rolled up tent off of the ground and heaving it over his shoulder. I was just about ready to sock Jonathon’s lights out when Zacharie spoke up.

            “We should get going you two. I have a feeling something is going on at your place.” He laughed, walking a few steps ahead of us. Jonathon and I eyed each other for a moment before we rushed to catch up with Zacharie.


	4. Laughter and Sandwiches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got another chapter done! Sorry for it taking so long guys! Con season hit me hard as heck and drained all my energy away from me. Enjoy the new little tidbits guys!

            As soon as we got to the house, loud hissing and roaring and even louder cursing could be heard from inside the living room. I looked at Jonathon for a split second before practically smashing through the front door to see what was up. Inside was the exact opposite of what I expected to find. Batter was sitting on the floor beside the spot on the couch my mom was sitting on, an empty plate between him and the couch. He appeared to be a bit upset as he gestured to the plate, making even more angry roars.

            “Chibi, it was hilarious as fuck you missed it.” My mom managed to breathe out between laughs. Luckily her cursing was of her amused variety and nothing seemed to be wrong aside from the fact that Batter was upset. “I was messing around with this dude because as soon as you left, he came out of your room and just sat there staring at the door. I got his attention with the laser pointer and he knocked my sandwich down on the floor so I scolded him and told him to eat it.” She continued her laughing, clutching her sides as I gave the Batter a very sympathetic glance.

            ‘You ate it didn’t you.’

            ‘I had no choice! She told me she was going to force you to get rid of me if I didn’t!’ He complained, his tone was still serious, yet had a slight whine to it. I patted his head and he gave a slight huff before turning away from my mom and I. Soon after that however, low growling could be heard coming from his direction. I turned away from my mom, who was still laughing her ass off, to see that Batter had taken notice of Zacharie. ‘Why is he here?’ he asked, his voice rather annoyed.

            ‘He’s here to help you out. He knows more about you than I do, so I figured he could help me to take care of you while you’re stuck here.’ I replied, draping my arm over his shoulders as I crouched down beside him.

            ‘He’s the whole reason we’re stuck in this mess.’

            ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of anything better to do!’

            ‘I need to go.’ He got up and walked off into my room, giving Zacharie a death glare before he turned the corner in the hallway. I let out a sigh, not really knowing how to deal with the situation was starting to get to me. Jonathon however, was overjoyed.

            “So Jon, who’s your boyfriend there?” my mom asked, finally over her laughing fit. Jonathon blushed a bright crimson, seemingly startled that my mom had asked him that. He started sweating again, but was unable to answer her.

            “His name is Zacharie, and he’s a friend of mine from a while back.” I stated nonchalantly as I walked past the two of them, grabbing Zacharie by the front of his shirt and dragging him to my room.

            “Jonathon, you should get back to work.”

            “Yes ma’am.”

            “Okay, the two of you need to make up right now so we can figure this mess out as quickly as possible.” I insisted, pushing a slightly confused masked merchant toward a highly upset lizard man in baseball gear. Zacharie glanced at me and then to the Batter before letting out a quiet sigh. Batter glared at Zacharie before giving him an upset snort and turning up his snout at him.

            “It appears as though our scale-clad compatriot doesn’t wish to speak with me. Oh well, I suppose he’ll come around when he feels like it. So my dear Chibi, what exactly would you like to know?” Zacharie turned away from the Batter and crossed his arms, directing his attention toward me.

            “Well…Anything really. Anything is helpful at this point in time.” I replied, not exactly knowing how to answer.

            “Okay. Shall we start with the basics then?” he asked, sitting down on my desk like it was a chair. I was just about to yell at him for sitting on my desk, but then I decided it’d be wise not to. After all, I’m asking him to help me out with the very monster that ruined his world and killed his girlfriend. I nodded and sat down across from him on the bottom bunk of my bed, where the Batter was curled up in the corner furthest from Zacharie. “Alright. First thing’s first. My entire inventory has been converted into ordinary objects. Luck tickets are now just scraps of paper. Meats are all just normal meat you find here. Jokers are playing cards of little value. If you mess up and he gets injured or worse…That’s it. No do overs. Secondly, I have no idea how to get back, or how to help him get out of that form. We can work that out later. Lastly, we only have a limited time to get back, or else things will not end well for anyone. No matter how much you want us to stay, we simply cannot. You understand, yes?” he explained, seemingly not even stopping for a breath. I just nodded. His bluntness about the situation hit me really hard. “Don’t just nod. I need to know that you understand just how dire the situation is.”

            “Y-Yes…I understand…” I said, my voice faltering slightly. Batter must have heard me, because he’d moved from his spot in the corner and curled himself around me, practically boring holes in Zacharie’s mask as he glared at him. I hadn't even noticed that he'd moved.

            “Amigo, you shouldn’t do things like that. It’s just going to make it harder on her when we have to leave.” Zacharie spoke softly, wanting to be as non-confrontational as possible, yet still direct enough to drive his point home. Unfortunately for him, this just made the hulking reptile even angrier.

            ‘Don’t tell me how I should behave here. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be here in the first place.’ He hissed, baring his knife-like fangs at the merchant. I patted his snout softly, a small sigh leaving my lips. It seemed as though there would be a huge argument, but it was left at that.

            “Fine, fine. Do what you wish. I’m going to go sort some things out. I want the two of you to discuss plans in case of an emergency.” The masked man said those last few things before leaving my room to join Jonathon and my mom in the living room. I wanted to ask him if there was anything else, but after that performance, I doubt either one of them would remain civil enough for me to get any kind of answers from Zacharie. I leaned back against the Batter and grumbled slightly. I looked to see if he gave any kind of reaction, but he was fast asleep, a small frown on his face. The fact that he looked grumpy even in his sleep amused me to no end and was actually quite adorable. I made a quiet giggle before I folded my hands across my stomach and closed my eyes. A nap seemed like a great idea right now, considering how hectic today has been so far. As soon as I felt myself falling asleep, an oddly playful sounding voice echoed through my head.

            ‘Shut up.’


	5. Naptimes and Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JUST AS A WARNING, THIS CHAPTER HAS MENTIONS OF VOMITING. IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY THIS, I APOLOGIZE.

            After a long and refreshing nap, I decided it was high time for some lunch. After all, it was now 2:30 PM. I sat up, yawing rather loudly as I stretched my arms above my head. I looked around the room for a bit before I noticed that Batter had left while I was sleeping.

            “Batter, where the hell are you?” I called tiredly, another yawn escaping my lips as I rubbed my eyes. I noticed the door was wide open and it appeared as though no one else was in the house. It was relatively silent, and it was grating my nerves like nothing else. “Batter?” I called once more, a tinge of worry ringing through my voice as I searched the other rooms. Upon reaching the living room, I confirmed that there was indeed no one else in the house. It was rather odd, considering the fact that Jonathon probably still had schoolwork and my mom would still be playing video games. The fact that none of them were around was starting to scare me really badly, and the fact that the Batter remained unresponsive made it even worse. Could he have gone back into the garage to sleep out there? Or maybe he got out somehow? I started to panic slightly, my hand clutching my shirt collar tightly. As I searched around, I felt a presence near me, and it was overpowering. I shuddered at the feeling, but turned around anyways. To my surprise, it was Zacharie. He just stood there in his relatively creepy cat mask, his head tilted to one side. “Oh thank god, it’s just you. Listen, do you know where Batter went? I’ve been searching the house for him.”

            “Chibi, you slipped up.” He replied simply, shrugging his shoulders.

            “Wh-what? What do you mean?” I asked, the stammer in my voice showing I was afraid of what his reply might be.

            “He’s dead, Chibi.” Once again, the reply was short and to the point. I flinched at his statement, my panic starting to get worse. “However, it wasn’t your fault. It was mine for ever bringing us here, and also for being the one to end his life.” I immediately regretted ever asking Zacharie for his help. I knew he probably had some kind of ulterior motives for wanting to “help out”, but I never knew that he would have gone this far. “Just know that since you also had a hand in the “purification” of our home, I must also do the same to you.” He drew his sword and feathery white wings unfolded from behind him as he started to float off the ground slightly. I fell back, utterly surprised by his actions. Once I laid eyes on that bloodstained blade, I knew that he was telling the truth, and he was deadly serious about killing me. I was surrounded by a strange light, and I couldn’t move a single muscle. The fact that he felt the need to use his competences on me (and the fact that they even still functioned here) terrified me to no end, and even though I couldn’t move, I could still scream.

            “AAAHHHH!” I let out a blood curdling scream as I rocketed up into a sitting position so quickly that I smashed my head into the bottom of the top bunk of my bed, startling the poor reptile who had been sleeping next to me the whole time. I panted rather harshly as I held my forehead.

            ‘Chibi, are you alright?’ he asked me, a concerned tone to his voice. He tilted his head slightly as he stared at my face for a bit, almost like he was studying it.

            “I…I’m fine…” I managed to breathe out. Looking at him suddenly made my heart hurt in the worst of ways, my brows furrowing slightly. I felt like crying, but I wasn’t going to do so, because I didn’t want to worry him anymore than he already was. I probably just gave the poor guy a heart attack, considering that I woke him up with a scream that could shatter plates.

            ‘You’ve been crying in your sleep for a while now. Are you sure you are okay?’ he questioned, nudging my cheek with his snout. I brought a hand to my other cheek, feeling moist trails that had been left by the tears. I couldn’t hold back the tears any more, and just let them pour out.

            “B-Batter…I…” I sniffled, bringing the huge, sportswear-clad dinosaur into a tight hug. Under normal circumstances I would never, EVER attempt to do that, but emotions are the fuel of daredevils and crazy people I suppose. “I don’t want to lose you…”

            ‘I have to go back, you know that.’ He responded, awkwardly returning the hug with his large, taloned hands. I shook my head, my sobs continuing.

            “No, I mean…I don’t want you to die…I-In my dream…You…you were…” I attempted to explain, but I figured it was best if I didn’t continue. After all, he and Zacharie already didn’t get along too well, and if he knew what happened in my dream, it would not end well.

            ‘I know you won’t let that happen. You never allowed me to die on my mission, so I know that you won’t allow it here, either.’ He reassured me, giving my cheek a quick nuzzle. I nodded a little, sniffling slightly as I tried my hardest to forget that dreadful dream. Shortly after that though my door was practically broken down by my panicked roomie, who was wielding a broom in his hand.

            “CHIBI, ARE YOU OKAY!? WHAT DID THAT LEATHERY BASTARD DO TO YOU!?” he fumed, pointing the handle directly at the (once again) startled reptilian. “I’LL KILL HIM, I SWEAR!” I considered chastising Jonathon for even mentioning such a thing, but it just caused me to start sobbing all over again.  Batter immediately broke the hug and practically flung himself off the bed as he roared angrily at Jonathon. This caused Zacharie to come waltzing in almost instantaneously after that. He let out his trademark chuckle as he gently pushed Jonathon behind him, placing himself in a rather dangerous position between him and a rage-driven Batter. I wanted to say something to stop them, but things were unfolding too quickly for me to even get a gasp on them. Zacharie strolled up to Batter, who was still very much ready to attack him, and stopped right in front of him. He simply brought his hand up and swiftly smacked the furious beast right on the tip of his snarling snout. I let out a sharp gasp, as I expected Batter to lose his shit and disembowel Zacharie right then and there, but instead he backed off, much like a dog who’d been punished in a similar manner.

            “It was a simple misunderstanding. No need to be upset. Isn’t that right, Chibi?” Zacharie laughed as he turned toward me with his hands on his hips. I nodded, tears still falling from my eyes. Seeing Zacharie at this moment triggered something in me, and I suddenly wanted to beat him mercilessly with his own backpack until he begged me to stop. Seeing him made me think of the dream. Made me think of what it could possibly be trying to tell me. Batter must have picked up on my sudden mood change, because he went from cowering dog back to angered beast rather quickly, giving Zacharie a deep growl as he approached him. “Call him off Chibi, or I’ll be forced to do something we’ll both regret.” He responded, his tone cold and harsh. I scooted forward slightly, getting between the two of them with my hands held out on either side of me.

            “Batter, it’s okay…I’m fine. Nothing is wrong, I promise. See?” I murmured softly, giving him a small smile as I quickly wiped away my tears. He paused, ceasing his growling as he came to a stop and sat on the floor. I turned to Zacharie and glared at him as if to say “get the fuck out of my room, or I’LL have to do something YOU’LL regret.” He simply shrugged at my expression of displeasure and turned to walk out.

            “Get a reign on your emotions. He can sense your intense emotions and in certain situations, it will cause the both of you immense pain.” He said grimly as he left my room. Jonathon stood in the doorway momentarily before he stuck his tongue out at the Batter and left to join Zacharie.

            ‘Chibi, I know something is wrong with you. Stop lying to me.’ Batter demanded, nudging me a bit harshly until I was sitting on the edge of my bed facing him. I couldn’t keep any kind of eye contact with him for very long, which was a dead giveaway of when I was nervous about something. I let out a sigh and gave his snout a few soft pats where Zacharie had smacked him. It was a little bruised, which was surprising as heck considering Batter was practically built like a tank.

            “Okay…I’m not fine. That dream was horrible and you were dead.” I responded, not even the least bit hesitant. He was gonna get it out of me anyways, so I may as well spill my guts.

            ‘It was Zacharie, wasn’t it?’ he asked, a hint of anger in his voice. I expected him to be furious when I responded with a simple ‘yes’ but instead he just scooted toward me just enough for him to be able to rest his head in my lap. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes. I could tell he was at least irritated, so I started petting him more, which seemed to calm him down. ‘Don’t let it get to you. It was just a dream after all.’

            “I’ll try not to.” I replied, patting his cheek softly as a signal to let me up. He moved back to the center of the room as I rose from the bed. “So what do you want to do now? I mean, I can’t take you outside cause it’s still daytime, but I can show you around the house or make you some food or something.” I asked, looking toward the dinosaur who was seated in the middle of my room. He looked a bit odd, as he was slightly hunched over, a large hand over his stomach and the other bracing him up- oh god he was gonna vomit everywhere.


	6. Spare Clothes and Snarkiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey look I posted early! Sorry for the long hiatus guys! Hopefully I can hammer out another chapter by the 15th because that's when this fic OFFICIALLY TURNS A YEAR OLD!!! Another note: MORE VOMIT MENTIONS, IF THIS BOTHERS YOU JUST SKIM THE FIRST PART.

            Luckily for me, I was able to get one of the large pots from the kitchen to prevent him from puking all over my freshly vacuumed carpet. I felt horrible because I couldn’t stand being in the same room as him while he was vomiting, but I could still hear the horrid retching from beyond my closed door. I don’t know what caused him to even start throwing up, but I’m pretty sure it was that sandwich my mom forced him to eat off the floor. As soon as it was silent, I slowly opened the door and approached him.

            “Is everything okay now? Do you think you got it all out?” I asked, rubbing his back softly, feeling his somewhat labored breathing. I didn’t blame him for being worn out; Puking sucks. He managed to nod slightly before he rolled over onto his side, still clutching his stomach. I frowned a bit as I picked up the pot (which was surprisingly a bit more full than I thought it would be, considering he hadn’t eaten anything aside from the sandwich) and took it to the bathroom to dispose of its contents. After getting rid of the mess in the pot, I returned to my room with a towel that I’d gotten damp with warm water. “Here, I have something to clean your mouth off with.” I mumbled, kneeling down next to the miserable reptile lying on my floor. He just rolled onto his back, letting out an exhausted groan in the process. “D-Do you need me to clean you up? I totally understand if you can’t. Barfing is the worst.” I asked him, a bit too shyly for my taste. He nodded a few times, his breathing slowing down as his nausea subsided. I sighed quietly to myself as I scooted close enough to him to start wiping his mouth off. He let out a quiet grumble as I began to wipe off the leftover vomit from his scales which caused me to tilt my head slightly. “What’s that grumble for, huh?” I asked him, a slight chuckle in my voice. He just stared at me, a slight frown on his face as I finished cleaning it off.

            ‘Thank you.’ He stated, closing his eyes as he let out a small chuff of appreciation. I looked him over for a bit, making sure I didn’t miss anything. However, upon further examination, I noticed that he’d gotten a bit of the mess on his clothes. I would have wiped those off too, but the towel was pretty much useless now. An awkward, shaky sigh escaped my mouth as I tossed the towel aside and proceeded to cover my face with my hands. ‘What’s wrong?’ he questioned, nudging my knees with his newly cleaned snout. I let out a squeak and peered at him through my fingers.

            “No-Nothing! I…I just noticed your uniform got dirty too so…yeah…” my sentence, as well as my explanation trailed off and quickly petered out into nothingness. I think he got the gist of what I was trying to say though, because he started attempting to squirm out of his tunic. “H-Hey! Don’t do that! Let me help you out, otherwise you’ll ruin your only clothes. Besides, we have a bathroom you can wash up in.” I stated, pulling the tunic back down over his head, my face getting rather red, despite his undershirt still being on that whole time. Even though he wasn’t in his humanoid form, his torso and legs were still very much human shaped. It was pretty cool, but also sorta odd. “I mean…Zacharie might still have some in his inventory, but just in case, you know?” I helped the poor guy up and escorted him to the bathroom down the hall. I then quickly went to Jonathon and asked him if he would be so kind as to ask Zacharie if he had any spare clothes for Batter in his backpack. He simply shrugged at me and walked off, presumably to go hang around with the aforementioned merchant.  I took note that Jon had seemed to be rather insistent to stay with him for some reason. But that’s none of my business.

            ‘Chibi…I require assistance…’ Batter’s familiar voice rang through my head, a slightly embarrassed tone to it. I sighed, only imagining what I’d find upon walking back into the bathroom. However, it wasn’t as bad as I expected. He’d gotten himself stuck in his tunic because he was too stubborn to wait for me to help him. ‘Please.’ He insisted, his arms stuck in an awkward fashion near his head. I was about to laugh, but then I figured it would be a pretty bad idea and forced the giggles bubbling up the back of my throat back down from whence they came.

            “Okay, okay. Gimme just a sec and I’ll get you…unstuck.” One small chuckle managed to escape my lips, no matter how hard I tried to keep it from doing so. I swear, I could feel the glare he was making at me from under his shirts. It was almost like my whole face was on fire. Of course, that might have also been from my intense blushing. Despite the fact that he was a huge dinosaur now, his body was still very human-like in shape. It of course lacked things normal human bodies had, and in the place of skin were shiny off-white scales. He still had his well-toned physique; lean muscles in all the right places and pretty much no body fat to be seen. I was almost afraid of even going near him due to the fact that the longer I stared, the more my face heated up. I thought I’d die of heat stroke, even without ever stepping foot outside. “I uh….okay just kinda….try and pull your head out when I say, okay?” I stammered, grabbing the bottom of the shirts on either side of the trapped beast. He somehow managed to nod, even with his head half stuck. “One…two…three!” On three, I yanked as hard as I could in an attempt to free him. After a couple of seconds, the shirts finally came off in my hands, causing me to fall back onto the laundry hamper. Luckily it was full of clean towels nobody bothered to put away.

            ‘Chibi, are you alright?’ the towering lizard leaned over the basket to check on me, a somewhat worried tone in his voice. I immediately thrust my hand into the air, clutching the shirts triumphantly. He managed to avoid getting punched in the jaw accidentally by a narrow margin.

            “Yes, I’m fine. What about you?” I asked, getting the now unfolded towels off of my face so that I could get out of the damned basket.

            ‘I’m fine.’ He replied, sitting back down on the floor. I sat up and examined him carefully, making sure I didn’t scrape off any scales or something like that. ‘Chibi, are you sure you’re alright? You look a bit red to me. Did you eat something bad?’

            “Batter, I’m alright I promise. It’s just the light hitting the towels.” I fibbed, hoping he wouldn’t keep asking about it. He seemed to get the message, whether he bought the lie or not, because he stopped pestering me and started to attempt to remove his pants. I had almost forgotten about those. I kind of wished I had. I immediately got one of the spare towels and threw it over my head. “Uh…Are you gonna need help with those too, or are you fine?”

            ‘I think so, yes.’ He responded in a rather vague manner.

            “Well, which is it?”

            ‘Not sure yet’ I heard the jingling of his belt, so I assumed he was able to get it alright. ‘Okay, I didn’t need help.’ I sighed with relief, because I don’t think I would have been much help passed out on the floor. I managed to get out of the basket and move my way over to the tub without tripping on anything. ‘Why do you have that cloth on your head?’

            “Because I feel like it?” I said, trying in vain to mask my embarrassment.

            ‘That’s stupid.’ He replied, sitting next to me as I started to run the bathwater for him.

            “The fact that you’d make yourself ill for me is stupid.” I retorted, a slight snarky tone to my voice.

            ‘I didn’t know your mother was lying. Now get that stupid cloth off your head.’

            “BATTER PLEASE JUST LET ME GET YOUR BATH READY.” I yelled, my voice rather high-pitched and very flustered. I could hear a slight chuckle from him at my response to his teasing. As soon as the tub was full enough, he got in and sat down so that I could help him wash up.

            ‘Whatever you’re expecting to see is probably not going to be what is actually there.’ He mocked me, giving my forehead a nudge with his snout. I sighed a bit as I removed the towel from my head. He hadn’t fallen for the bait after all. ‘Not to worry, I can wash myself.’

            “Batter, I don’t mind really…Well I kind of do…Just…certain areas. Like, I’ll wash your back for you if you want me to.” I offered, handing him a soaped up washcloth.

‘Okay.’ He replied, scrubbing his chest and stomach off thoroughly. He then handed back the washcloth and insisted he would do the rest after I washed his back for him. I simply nodded and got started. After a bit of scrubbing I had noticed that a strange sound had started emanating from the back of Batter’s throat. It sounded kind of like a weird purr that a crocodile might make.

            “That’s so cute~” I whispered, placing the washcloth on the end of his snout. “I’m done now; you can take care of the rest. I’ll go get your clothes, okay?” I laughed openly, making sure to observe his expression before I left the room. He looked really annoyed and actually kind of pissed off. Oops.

            “Chibi, I got those clothes from Zacharie for you. He said you’re lucky he happened to have them still. He was gonna toss them out.” Jonathon laughed as he handed me the spares. “So did you get to see some dino donger?” he jokingly asked, leaning on the wall.

            “JON I SWEAR TO GOD, I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE BOOB.”


	7. Cleanliness and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm surprised so many of you stuck around! Well, here's a reward for being so patient with me!  
> SPONTANEOUS UPDATE! I don't have anything else written yet, so the next chapter will probably take around the same amount of time, but hopefully less, considering I'm back in the swing of things maybe. Hahah.
> 
> I may start writing Jojo's Bizarre Adventure fics too, since it's my main fandom [which is why I stopped updating this] but I honestly have no clue what to write and for who. Hahahah. Anyways, enjoy this new chapter, eager readers! I had fun writing it so hopefully the next one will be easier to hammer out!

After a while, the freshly cleaned Batter emerged from the bathroom, only half dressed, holding the new shirts in his claws. I assumed he needed help getting them on, and nodded at him quietly.

            “Holy shit Chibi, he’s built like a damn brick house!” Jon exclaimed, causing Batter and I to turn toward him almost simultaneously in surprise. “I can see why you’re crushin on him so badly, damn son…” he murmured, walking off toward the living room once more, fanning himself with his hands. I wasn’t sure if it was in a mocking fashion or not, but it irritated me nonetheless. I wanted to cut him off while he was talking, but he was too quick for me. I instead turned toward the Batter, a look of scared anticipation adorning my features. I didn’t want to look at him, cause I could feel my face was hotter than the damn sun, but hey, no pain no gain right?

            ‘Chibi…you…what?’ he mumbled, sounding a bit shocked at Jonathon’s remark. I simply let out a quiet squeak before attempting an explanation.

            “Well…Okay it wasn’t like that at first, it just kind of happened…I slowly started growing fond of you while I was playing the game. It felt like it was us against the world, and we were doing God’s work. It made me feel like we had a bond, even though I had thought you were just ones and zeroes in a game.” I paused momentarily, letting out a rather sad sounding chuckle. “Eventually I started talking back to you and the other characters, even though I knew you guys couldn’t hear me. It was rather amusing to me, so I just kinda kept it up. Silly isn’t it?” I finished, letting out a sigh. I was surprised to hear a faint chuckle from the Batter after I finished explaining. I was so shocked that I didn’t even stop to ask him why he laughed and just assumed he was making fun of me. I got angry and was about to say something very hurtful, but I was cut off.

            ‘Calm down. Now it’s my turn to explain.’ He started, holding up a clawed hand in order to prevent me from taking action. ‘It’s not silly at all. As I stated before, you are my player. We don’t need to communicate through speech alone. I could sense your feelings even in the game. Your confusion, your joy, your sorrow, your intense passion when defeating the enemy, and your feelings towards me.’ He paused as well, a small smirk forming on his face. ‘Now I can’t say how I feel for you is the exact same, but do know this Chibi. I would protect you from now until the end of time. You are important to me. Not just as a player, but as you.’ He finished, handing me the shirts as a signal to help him get dressed. I simply stood there, tears beginning to well up in my eyes. That couldn’t have gone better even if I had dreamt it up myself. He eyed me for a moment, probably somewhat concerned at the sudden waterworks.

            “Thank you Batter…” I muttered, giving his head a pat before helping him with his shirts. After that we went out into the living room where everyone else was seated on the couch, watching my mom play L.A. Noire as her and Jonathon read the dialogue in silly voices. “Hey guys, look who’s clean and sparkly now!” I beamed, motioning to Batter as he slowly crept out of the hallway and sat down in the middle of the room, next to the coffee table. “Also mom, don’t make Batter eat things off the floor. The sammich made him throw up pretty bad, which is why I had to bathe him in the first place.”

            “Oh…Sorry Chibs, sorry Batter. I didn’t know it would make him sick.” She said, a small frown on her face. “Do you think he’ll let me pet him as an apology?” She asked, shrugging slightly. I shrugged back and eyed Batter, who simply looked at me like he didn’t understand what was happening.

            “Well Batter? Mom wants to apologize for making you sick. Will you let her pet you?” I asked him in a way that was similar to how owners speak to their dogs. He grumbled at me and narrowed his eyes, carefully making his way over to my mom, completely unsure of how to react. She simply reached down and softly stroked his snout, giving it gentle scratches every now and then before taking her hand back.  
  
            “Sorry about that.” She said quietly, turning back toward the TV so she could play her game some more. Batter turned to me and had this strange look on his face which I was guessing was a weird grin. He then went back to his original spot near the coffee table, eyeing me expectantly.

            “What’s up? Are you hungry?” I asked him, tilting my head slightly. He went toward the kitchen next, so I had assumed that was a yes. Following the somewhat hyped up lizard into the kitchen, I found him rummaging through the fridge, eyeing the different meats in the bins. ‘Hey, I actually have something special for you, since Zacharie mentioned that all the special meats are now just normal.’ I motioned for him to join me in the garage, opening the door slightly. He eagerly followed me, excited to see what kind of surprise I had in store. Upon entering the garage, I pulled a rather large hunk of meat from the fridge. I had it defrosting just for Batter, since apparently the in game meat was just normal meat the whole time. I grabbed a box and used it as a makeshift table, placing the unwrapped meat down on it rather unceremoniously. I asked him to sit down as I grabbed a sandwich I had made earlier from the fridge and sat across from him.

            ‘What’s this?’ he asked, sniffing the meat before eyeing me curiously. I got a tad red in the face before answering him.

            “It’s a huge ass steak. It’s from a cow. Also, I figured we could have lunch together since Jonathon and Zacharie are being pretty jerky right now…” I replied simply, my train of thought trailing off as I took a bite of my sandwich. Batter eyed the steak before giving it a small test lick. His tongue was a weird sort of grayish color and was really long and narrow. Not something I expected to see in a dinosaur, but then again, he wasn’t any normal dinosaur. Seeing his eyes light up after tasting the steak was probably the cutest thing I’d seen from him. But then he immediately took the entire steak in his mouth and violently choked it down, much like a Komodo Dragon would in the wild. If anything, it was terrifying, but also really interesting to see how he ate. He must have seen the expression I was making (which was probably a mix of shock and pure curiosity) because after he finished licking the blood from his mouth, he tilted his head to the side.

            ‘Chibi? Are you alright?’ he asked, his head tilting to the opposite side this time. I simply nodded, took another bite of my sandwich, and smiled.

            “Cool…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's another chapter done y'all! I can't thank you guys enough for sticking around and supporting me with your kind words. 
> 
> Just out of curiosity, who is your favorite character so far? Jonathon, Chibi, or Chibi's mom? :3


	8. Riddles and Sass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, look who decided to update finally! Yaaaay!

            After our “lunch date”, we both headed back inside to see my mom interrogating people on L.A. Noire while Jonathon did silly voices for the characters. I had noticed that Zacharie wasn’t sitting where he had been before, and asked Jonathon where he’d gone.

            “He said he was going to arrange his things in the guest room. He also said he needed to tell you something.” Jon replied, not even bothering to look at me. I simply sighed and gestured for Batter to follow me to see what was up. Upon entering the room, I noticed that there was somehow more stuff inside than we had packed up from before. I was going to question this, but didn’t bother.

            “So, what did you supposedly need to tell me, eh Zacharie?” I asked, a hand on my hip. I wanted him to know that I was in no mood for his shenanigans and told him that I would tire of them easily so he should just get to the point. He laughed at me for my needless sassiness.

            “I may have figured out a way to get us back. The only drawback is that I have about a week or so to figure out exactly how I’m going to start the process.” He stated, fiddling with some kind of gadget before plugging it into a nearby computer. The thing looked ancient, but appeared to be running a current OS. “Better get your bonding time in then. On the other hand, it’d be easier on you both if you parted ways now or treated each other like strangers for the time being.” He laughed again, probably mocking us. I was going to speak up, but Batter had beaten me to it.

            ‘What of you and the boy then?’ He spoke, a tinge of cockiness to his voice as a small smirk quirked the corners of his mouth upwards. This caused Zacharie to turn around rather quickly, his distraction broken by Batter’s statement.

            “What are you implying?” He questioned, crossing one leg over the other before resting his arms on his knees, his chin resting atop his now folded hands. He appeared to be glaring at us rather darkly, but it was hard to tell due to his mask.

            ‘I know that you can sense his feelings for you. I also know that you feel the same way towards him.’ Batter remarked, his voice cool in tone as he sat beside me. I could already feel another argument brewing, so I decided to step out of the room, gesturing to Zacharie that I understood the situation. He simply sighed and nodded.

            “That may be true, but I can’t allow him to get caught up in this. It would be selfish of me, especially considering the fact that we cannot bring them with us when we leave. I want to be the only one brokenhearted at the end of this.” Zacharie responded, turning away from Batter to finish fiddling with whatever he was working on before. Batter turned to leave, but spoke one last time before doing so.

            ‘It’s too late for that Zacharie. At least let him know that his feelings aren’t unrequited. He would be much worse if you left him that way.’ With that, the Batter had made his leave, leaving Zacharie alone in the guest room, feeling rather lonesome. Luckily for Zacharie, Jonathon had decided that would be a good time to pop in for a chat.

            “Hey Zach…Yo, you look kinda bad. Is something up?” he asked, leaning in rather closely. Zacharie noticeably tensed slightly as he was startled out of his thoughts. This caused Jonathon even more concern, as he decided to plop himself down on the bed next to the somewhat befuddled merchant.

            “I’m fine Jon. Just a bit preoccupied with trying to build this mechanism here.” He fibbed, avoiding any sort of eye contact with Jonathon, who simply tilted his head a bit. Zacharie could tell that Jonathon was concerned about his wellbeing, and simply let out a rather shaky sigh. “Alright…You got me. Though, I will only tell you what’s up if you can solve this riddle.” He explained, giving a rather awkward chuckle.

            “That’s no fair! I would tell you if something was wrong with me!” Jonathon complained, flopping onto his stomach, his arms sprawled across Zacharie’s lap, which made the masked merchant tense up even further. He cleared his throat and began the riddle.

            “Many shapes, many sizes. Can't be seen, only felt. I bring pain, I bring joy, I bring laughter, and I bring happiness. I can tear the mightiest from their thrones, and those who have me…are rich.” He paused momentarily for dramatic effect before finishing.

            “What am I?” He shrugged a bit, showing how into this he was, attempting to hold back a laugh when he noticed Jonathon’s confused face.

            “Sounds pretty weird…I’m not good at riddles man, give me a break here!” Jonathon complained, rolling onto his back, looking up at Zacharie with a pout.

            “Unless you figure it out, I won’t tell you anything.”

            “UGH. YOU’RE WORSE THAN CHIBI.” He whined, sitting up with a thoughtful look on his face as he began to work out the riddle in his head. Zacharie began fidgeting as time wore on, beginning to get a bit impatient. Jonathon spoke up softly, his tone a bit shy. “I…I think I have it now…”

            “And?”

            “It…It’s love, isn’t it?” Jonathon turned toward Zacharie, his eyes practically locked with the ones painted on the mask. Zacharie scooted closer to Jonathon, so much so that they were mere inches from each other.

            “Bingo.” Zacharie confirmed, lifting his mask just enough so that his mouth was visible before leaning in more and giving Jonathon a small kiss on the cheek. He returned the mask to its original position before giving a small chuckle, returning to his work as a thoroughly flustered Jonathon stumbled out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, sorry for not updating in so long! I know a lot of you like this fic, but I have recently been so obsessed with Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, that I kinda forgot to work on this. NO WORRIES THOUGH! I WILL FINISH THIS FIC....EVENTUALLY! Just have patience with me. Anyways, enjoy the new, albeit EXTREMELY short, chapter!


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